Numb
by completeceltic
Summary: Jackson has planned for his revenge, but now Lisa has dissapeared. Will he ever get his revenge? He takes a job as an assassin and runs into someone he never expected and everything catapolts out of control. JXL later on. Crossover Red Eye X Saint.
1. Vanishing Act

**I am making this story a crossover with Saint by Ted Dekker. It is a novel that came on the market in October 2006. You don't need to read the book to understand my story. I am just using a few of the ideas and characters from the book. The novel is a suspense novel and I think the combination of Red Eye and Saint will be a add a nice edge to the story. I bet you won't see this coming.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Red Eye or of Saint.**

Jackson Ripner sat quietly in his car, staring dumb at the radio dial. He could not believe what he just heard on the midday breaking news report. It had been 9 months sense the Keefe job. He had a lot of time to recover from his wounds. His company had busted him down from manager to assassin after the incident and that made him angry. He had not yet taken another job sense then. Through out his recovery time, he had been planning his revenge on Lisa. He had everything that he would do to her mapped out in a little notebook. He had become obsessed with watching her every day and every night. Today was the day that he was going to steal her and implement all of his horrors that he had thought of on her. However, he had taken his eyes off of her for a few hours, to get things ready, and the worst had just happened. The news just release that Lisa Reisert, the girl he hated and wanted revenge from, had disappeared. No one new where she was. Not her father, her mother, her boss, or any of her friends. Lisa had vanished.

Now he sat wondering if he would ever be able to get his revenge. He had to find her, but that seemed all too impossible now. Silently, Jackson promised himself, ' Someday I will find her , even if it takes me the rest of my life.'

**3months Later **

Jackson strolled into his boss's office and took a seat in a large cushioned chair. He was about to get his first job as an assassin. He felt ready to get back into work, even though it was a much more gruesome job than his old one. He still had Lisa on his mind, but he told himself that he could not do anything about it right now and that he needed to concentrate on his job.

His boss looked at him with a smile on his face, then dropped a file in front of Jackson.

" Whose the target ?" Jackson said without looking at the file.

" You will be heading this hit, Jack. The target is the President of the United States. Take your time on him. I don't want this messed up, you got that?" His boss said seriously.

Jackson nodded and smiled, " Piece of Cake, Boss."

Jackson got up to leave as his boss added, " Oh, Be on the look out for another assassin. Every where we go now we seem to have a little shadow following us and executing our hits before we can. I you happen to run into one, well, just use your imagination. But you execute the hit."

Jackson looked back at his boss momentarily and smiled cunningly. Then he proceeded to walk out of the office.


	2. Emotionless Void

**This chapter and a few of the coming chapters may not seem to fit. But trust me it will. This chapter is written in the format of the book Saint. There will be shifting from first to third person, so pay close attention to the characters. Most of the characters in this chapter are from Saint, so there is a good chance you won't know who they are unless you have read the book. Don't worry their characters will be explained. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Red Eye or Saint**.

Slipping away/

Are we at the wheel and unaware now/

Has the population put us in a trance now/

Overtaken by the tide and washed away now/

What do you say now/ In a daze/

Are we moving in the motion of the crowd now/

Slowly losing everything we were about now/

Is it time to draw a line in the sand now/

And take a stand now/

- _Numb_

I see darkness. I am lying flat on a bare mattress, my hands are tied to the headboard and foot board posts. There is someone beside me. A man. He is crying. I have been kidnaped.

My name is Casey.

There's more that I know about myself, fragments that don't make sense. I just can't remember everything. I know that I'm 5 feet 4 inches and have gone through some kind of strenuous physical training, a type of training that barely anyone can bare. I have a son that I love more than my own life and a husband named ... named Carl, of course, Carl. How could I hesitate on that one? I'm unconscious or asleep, yes, but how could I forget my husbands name?

I remember things about my life, about me and those I love. Events and facts cemented into place by pain. My husband's name is Carl and my son is Alex. Carl and Alex, right?

I am a prisoner. I don't know what happened, only that I am here. Wherever here is? A man is crying beside me.

Casey's eyes snapped open, quickly taking in her surroundings. She realized that she was strapped to a King size bed in a small plain room. The walls of the room were a dingy brown color and a single naked bulb cast the room with a dull yellowish glow. There is a window at the far side of the room. It was covered with some sort of sheet.

Hearing a man next to her, she turned her head to the right to take in the crying form. He looked to be about 29 years old with brown hair that hung down over his eyes slightly. He looked as though he had been brutalized in some way. Bruises and cuts graced his face and neck. She could not see his eyes for he had them closed tightly, as if trying to block out the world. Who is this man? She thought. _I don't remember anything about myself or him. _

Slowly, the man's eyes started to open and then realizing that she was awake, turned his head to face her. He was tied up the same as she was but look in far worse condition.

He smiled a weak smile at Casey, apparently happy that she was no longer unconscious. She stared at him with a blank look on her face. " Who are you?" she asked with an emotionless tone.

The man's chiseled face contorted into a look of confusion mixed with horror. " What have they done to you?" he said with disbelief prominent in his voice. " My name is Carl Strople. You are Casey Strople ... my wife."

Casey looked at him with an emotionless expression, " You are my husband. I don't remember any of that. What happened? Where are we?" she said stoically.

He looked at her in disbelief again, shaking his head he replied, " You don't remember any of this do you?" She shook her head in reply. So he continued, " We have been kidnaped and they tortured us. We were on a cruise in Tahiti with our son, Alex, when it happened. The three of us went on shore at one of the docking ports and ... they knocked us out in market place. They took us here. I think we are somewhere inside of Hungary. They are keeping Alex in another room so that they have more leverage to make us do what they wanted us for. I think they want you to kill someone. They were going to make me do it, but I refused and the one named Dale hurt me. He is a horrible creature." Casey could see the look of pure hatred in Carl's rich brown eyes. _What had the man named Dale done to him? _She wanted to feel for this man who was her husband, but she could not dredge up the emotion that would do so. I feel strange and weird lying here next to this man. She simple could not find it in her heart to care about him.

All of a sudden, the wooden door swung wide open, reveling a tall threatening figure in the shadows of the door. She felt Carl stiffen next to her as she looked cautiously at the figure. Slowly and purposefully, the figure walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. The figure walked to the end of the bed and paused.

From here, Casey could see that the figure was a tall handsome man. He was well toned and muscular, with his tee shirt fitted tight around his upper body. He had short cropped blond hair and a knifelike nose and chin. This man was Dale. She knew this with absolute certainty.

In a nonchalant way, Dale Crompton rounded the corner of the bed and cocked is gun and pointed the barrel at Carl's thigh. Without hesitation, he fired a bullet into Carl. Casey saw Carl buck his hips in pain. Suddenly, a flood of sympathy flowed through her. She actually cared for her husband after all. Carl clenched his eyes and kept them that way for a long time.

Dale looked over at Casey with a bored look on his face. Turning with his back to her, he walked over to the window and opened it to let in the light of midday come streaming in. Then he placed the loaded gun on the window sill and walked over to Casey.

Grabbing his knife from his hip, Dale proceeded to cut the ropes holding her to the bed. As he worked, he spoke to her in a deep English accent, " You are going to kill a couple for us. You husband was not willing, so you are our only choice now. You will kill a man named Peter Tridel and his wife, Nancy at the Ambassador Hotel five miles north of here. They are staying in room 2067. You have 60 minutes to complete the task and get back here in this room or your husband and child dies. No face shots, we need their face to be recognizable. In that gun over there, you have two bullets and only two. So make sure that you have a clean shot to kill. We have inserted a tracking device in the back of your skull." Casey turned around slightly to see that the place her head was resting was filled with her own blood. Reaching her hand up, she felt blood on her head as well.

Crompton continued with a smirk, " That was all thanks to me. By the way my name is Dale Crompton or what most people I know call me is Englishman. Anyway, that device will explode if you are not in this room within 60 minutes. So don't try to be the hero, it won't get you anywhere. Any questions?" he said with a sneer.

Casey sat up untied and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Her brown eyes stung for some odd reason and her just-longer than shoulder length auburn hair hung down into her fair skinned face. She shuddered out her answer, " No, it's perfectly clear."

" Good." Englishman hissed in her ear, then added with an amused chuckle, " You had better get going, because the 60 minutes started when I came into the room. You now have about 50 minutes to get there, kill and come back. I suggest you run."

Casey's eyes went wide and getting to her feet quickly, she ran to the window. She grabbed the gun and started out the window, when a weak voice stopped her. " Casey, I love you so much." Carl looked at her with a smile weak smile. Casey replied sweetly, " I love you more than my own life, Carl. I will save us. I will come back. I promise." Without another look or word to those in the room behind her, Casey jumped out the window landing on her feet.

Getting up she looked around and realized what she mst now go through with. She was facing north. How did she know it was north? She just knew.

She would go north. And she would kill. For Carl, her husband.

**Author's note: I know it took a long time to update, but I have been very busy with college papers right now. Anyway here is one of my favorite chapters. I hope you liked it. I know it seems totally disconnected to Red Eye, but it will connect later. The connection will come in the about 3-4 chapters. Just hang in there with me. The character of Carl is actually the main character in the book, Saint. I am using him as a smaller character in my story. I know you may be thinking that Casey is void of emotion, which is true. There is a reason in which I will be reveling soon. Lack of emotion on Casey's part is a large reason that the story is called Numb. Next chapter up soon.**

**I just want to say thank you to NinaRippner. You are my one and only reviewer right now. Thank you so much.**

**For everyone else, please review. ) **


	3. I think they want me to kill you

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Saint or Red Eye.**

Casey ran from the window as if her life depended on it. Unfortunately, in a way it did. She knew that if she did not complete the task at hand and get back in 60 minutes, she would be dead along with Carl and Alex. Holding the gun in her hand, she ran through the compound that she was apparently being kept in. The compound looked like an old military base. Maybe it was. There was no one out on the grounds at the moment, but she suspected that most were watching her from the windows of the old buildings. She could almost feel their eyes on her back as she broke through the tree barrier of the compound. She ran faster than she thought she ever could run before. She was very fit and running should not be a problem for her, but running this fast and this long was amazing to her. She ran for fifteen more minutes until she broke out of the forest and found a city.

The city was very large and had sky scrapers littering the streets. The day looked to be about noon. Many locals were milling about on the streets. She ran down the hill that she was standing on and entered the city. She probably didn't blend in very well in this city. For one, she was sweating up a storm from running so hard. Plus, she was completely lost in a town or country that she had never been to before and did not know how to speak the language. She slowed her run to a fast walk. Looking around for the Ambassador Hotel. _It has to be here_. If it was not, then her and her family were doomed.

To her delight, as Casey came around the corner, standing right in front of her in all of it's glory was the Ambassador Hotel. She stopped and stared at it, wondering how she could be so lucky. Then she realized something. All of the people going in and out of the hotel were very well dressed. Looking down at her own clothing, which were wet from sweat and ripped from the encounter in the compound, she realized that she would not be able to get in dressed like that.

Suddenly, an idea struck. Quickly, she ran around the side of the hotel into the back alley. There she found a towel and draped it around her shoulders. Glancing around quickly, she pulled the door open and slipped into the laundry room. She walked quickly out into the lobby, then slowed her pace. To the rest of the guests and staff at the hotel, she looked like someone who just got back from the pool. Very few people even gave her a glance.

She quickly came to the elevator and pressed the up button. While she waited for the door, she whistled a little tune, she could not remember what it was from. Suddenly, the door opened and she stepped inside, luckily the door closed before anyone came in. She pressed the number for floor 21. The elevator shot up quickly.

Getting off at floor 21, Casey made her way towards the stairs. She somehow knew that the murder would be less traceable to her if she got off on a different floor. For everyone saw her get in the elevator at a time that will be close to the murder time. She had no idea how she knew this, it seemed innate in her. She quickly ran down the stairs while discarding the towel in a trash can. She came out on floor 20. _2067. _She found the door and pulled her gun out of her cargo pants, hiding it behind her back. Slowly and casually, she knocked on the door.

"Come in, the door is open!" a man called to her from behind the door. That is weird, she thought. They are making this to easy on me.

Despite her feelings against it, she opened the door slowly and walked in. She drew her gun in ready position and stepped quietly around the suite. She rounded a corner and found her targets sitting casually at a small table.

The couple look to be in their mid to late thirties. He had black hair with a little graying at the sides. She had long blond hair pulled up into a bun. They were richly dressed and were reading the paper. As Casey came in with her gun pointed at the man and a stoic mask placed on her face ready to kill, they both looked up at her casually.

The man smiled at her, " You don't want to do that, Samantha."

Casey let her confusion at the name show on her face, " What did you call me?"

The man, keeping his smile, said nonchalantly, " They told you that you were Casey Strople, didn't they?" When she didn't reply, he continued, " Your really name is Samantha Rainer. You work with a special operations unit in America."

" What about Carl? He is my husband. I know he is my husband." She said in a matter of fact tone.

" You don't have a husband. Well, you did, but he died in one of the operations. Everything they told you was a lie." The man now very serious. " Don't appease them, don't shoot." While he said this he stood up and put his paper down.

Casey, however, was standing there conflicted. Do the job and never know if this man is telling the truth or don't do the job and Carl, whom she knows to be her husband, dies along with herself. Slowly she lifted her head out of thought, she had come to a decision. She made a decision of the heart.

Slowly she lifted her gun again and shot the man squarely in the heart. Then she turned slightly and pulled the trigger on the woman, hitting her directly in the heart as well.

With the stoic mask pulled tightly over her face again, she stated strongly to the dying couple who were looking up at her in shock, " My name is Casey Strople. I think they want me to kill you."

With that, she ran out the door to the hallway, leaving the dead bodies for the police to find. She made it down the elevator in a hurry and ran out the back door to the hotel. She ran as quickly as she could out of the Hungarian city back to her compound, praying that she would get back in time to save Carl. She broke out of the forest 10 minutes later breathing lightly. She sprinted as fast as she could towards the only open window in the old base. She quickly grabbed the window sill and pulled herself up and into the small opening.

Landing on the hard concrete floor of the room, she closed her eyes taking a small breath of relief. She knew she made it. She had saved Carl. Still with her eyes closed leaning against the window she called out, " Carl, I did it. I'm back." She waited for a response from him, but none came.

Confused, she opened her eyes to a completely dark version of the room. Someone had turned the light off. My Carl is sleeping, she thought. After letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she slowly walked over to the bed. But... there was no bed. Someone had taken it away from the room. She was in the correct room right? Of course I am, it's the only one that had an open window., she thought. But it the bed is gone, then so is Carl. She had gotten back in time. They could not have killed him. So where is he? What did they do to him?

" Carl! Carl! What did you do to him?!" Casey yelled at the darkness and anyone who was listening.

Suddenly, there was a creak of a floor board behind her. Before she could scream, a lead pipe hit her viciously over the head. She fell to the floor as darkness enveloped her.

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. College is in cram time right now. But I promise that I will update much faster. For all of you wondering how I will connect this with Red Eye, I won't tell you. It will ruin the shock effect of it. But I will tell you that you won't have to wonder long. In about 2-3 chapters will be the connection. And Jackson will come back into it in about one more chapter. Thank you so much to all who have reviewed. Your reviews make me update faster. Next chapter up Friday or possible earlier. **


	4. The X Group

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Saint or Red Eye.**

Somebody talk to me/

Am I all alone/

When are we going to wake up/

Are we numb/

Is the feeling gone /

Tell me what went wrong/

Are we numb/

Close your eyes/

Let the world pass by/

Now your hypnotised/

Are we numb/

- Numb

Light filtered in through the sides of, her eyes. Something bright was blaring at her face. Casey slowly opened her eyes to a bright lamp in some sort of hospital room. She could not remember what had happened to bring her here, but... Carl? She had been looking for him after the hit. Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide and quickly took in her surroundings. She was lying on some sort of operating table and the bright lamp had been turned down. There were people in the room, doctors? No. She knew for sure they weren't doctors. There was a man in his mid forties sitting on a chair near her feet. He had dark hair and a stern yet bored looking face. She knew this man, but she couldn't place it. There was a woman a little younger than the man doing something around her head. She had graying brown hair pulled back in a very loose bun. She had a lab coat on. There was another woman, much younger. Maybe her age with short blond hair. She was standing next to... Casey's eyes fell on Carl. He was sitting on a chair in the corner. He was unrestrained and looked completely unharmed.

When he saw her open her eyes and look at him, he stood and walked over to her side. He folded his arms over his chest and cracked a large grin. It was almost as if he was saying good job with that smile. " Welcome, Sunshine." he said with an amused tone.

Casey stared at him, then her eyes traveled down to his hip where Englishman had shot him. He saw her looking and replied, " We have a lot to talk about. Where should we start?"

" How about telling me what is going on, Carl." she said strongly.

He sighed, " Well, first things first, you are not a prisoner like you thought. We needed you to believe that you were for the excersise. And I, sadly, am not your husband, but I am your handler. I'll explain later. Your name is Casey Barlow, not Strople. We are in Hungary and still only about a few yards away from the room we were in before. You are a member of a covert assassination group called the X group. There are three assassins that make up the public veiw of the group. First is Dale Crompton, you remember him. Very mean guy. We call him Englishman as a code name. Everyone has one. I am the second, Carl Strople, they call me Saint. Don't ask why. You are being groomed to be the third assassin. The whole ordeal that you just went through was your last test. Congradulations, you are now apart of the X group. We call you Angel. Any questions?"

Casey was staring at him the whole speech, trying to absorb all of the information that she had just received. Coming out of it sh said, " Who hit me on the head? And what do you mean you're my handler? Who are these other people?"

" For the first, that be Englishman. I told him that it would be a little rough. Sorry. Secondly, every person who goes through the training for the X group must have someone watching over them and teaching them everything they need to know. I was yours. I am very proud of you. Thirdly, the woman side me is Kelly Larin, she was my handler." hesaid this while pointing to the young blond woman. " This is Lazlo Kalman, he is the director and manager of the X group. The woman near your head is Agotha, she is our doctor and neurological specialist. She can make you believe that you are anyone or anything she wants to."

Agotha leaned down and spoke to Casey in a deep Hungarian accent, " I will need to work on your brain a little more in order to bring your memories back fully. Come around twelve p.m. right before you leave."

" Before I leave to go where?" Casey looked at the older lady.

In a smooth Hungarian accent, Kalman answered, " You are going on a mission. A real on this time. You are to assassinate the President of the United States, Robert Stenton. He will be staying at the Hilton Hotel in Miami, Florida. You are to go there and kill him by Friday night. You have a week. If he is not dead, I will send Englishman to finish the job and to kill you. Carl will go with you. You leave in three hours. Get ready." With that note, he turned around and sat down on his chair again.

Casey exchanged a glance with Carl and got up to go get everything ready for their hit in America.

**Authors Note: This chapter was an informative chapter. I introduced in it a hint of the connection that I will make between Red Eye and Saint. Jackson and Casey are both going to trying and kil the President at the same time. Oh, an the President Robert Stenton is the president in the book Saint. I wanted to use him. Kalman, Kelly, Agotha, Carl, Englishman, and X group are from the book. Casey is not in the book. By the way Jackson will be in the next chapter and he will even meet Casey in it as well. Enjoy and review**.


	5. Jackson's Surprise

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Red Eye or Saint**

I am sorry that it took so long to update, but I think you'll like this chapter.

Back in Miami, Florida, Jackson Rippner sat in his hotel suite working on the possible ways to kill President Stenton. The President was due at the hotel in 1 hour. So Jackson had a lot of work to do.

Tapping away on his laptop sitting in front of him, his mind began to wander from his work. He smile thinking about the funny coincidence that his very hotel room was room 1080. The same number as the flight with Lisa. He rubbed the scar on his throat remembering how she looked that day. He hated her for everything she did to him. He knew that he wanted to hurt her more than anything right now. But it would have to wait. He had not yet found Lisa again and was starting to wonder if she was possibly dead. Her father, Joe, was still pursuing the search that had long become fruitless as the last three months droned on.

Jackson was always on guard for that so called "shadow" that he was supposed to run into. Whoever it was had not shown up yet. When they did, Jackson had a nasty little surprise for them waiting. Something involving a knife, perhaps. Jackson smiled at this thought. He never felt remorse for what he did to people. Things such as this was just plain fun for him.

Jackson Rippner has no heart and the way he sees it, everyone just better back off and get accustomed to it.

Jackson looked up from his laptop and glanced at the table clock next to him. An hour had passed and the President would arrive any second. Time to start surveillance on his victim.

Jackson hopped off the bed in one swift motion and ran out of the room.

**Casey **and Carl walked in to the hotel lobey arm in arm. Their facade was supposed to be of boyfriend and girlfriend here for their honeymoon. Casey wore a light blue sun dress that flowed gracefully down to her knees. She had done her hair in a lose mass of curls that hung to her shoulders. Carl was wearing a pin stripe suit with his hair in place. No one in the Marriot would ever guess that they were here to assassinate the President.

Before they left, they received fake identities and passports. Their aliases for this mission were Sofia Jacquez and Tony Lain.

As they walked up to the counter to check in, Casey caught a glimpes of something moving quickly past her. She turned around to get a look at what it was and saw a man now standing to her right. Staring intently out the glass doors in the front of the hallway. At that moment, President Robert Stenton came walking through the door security team surrounding him.

The man straightened at that moment. He backed up a little as if trying to stay out of sight. But not doing a good job of it.

Casey had a gut feeling about this man. His pale blue eyes and tall demenor told her that this man is an enemy. She quickly turned around, away from the man when a thought dawned in her mind.

Before they left the compound in Hungary, Kalman had told them that they will have competition with another assassin. They should get rid of the assassin if found. Casey was positive that this man only about 20 feet away from her was this man.

She could not do anything here. It would attract too much attention. Get his room number and find him once they were settled in was the best approach.

She glanced over at the man, who was starting to leave and saw his room key in his hand. Room 1080 it read. Alright, in a little while you will get a deadly visit from me, she thought.

Casey turned back to Carl, who had just finished signing in. They went to their room and unpacked. She briefly mentioned the man and her plan. Carl agreed.

While Carl sat on the bed and leafed through folders upon folders, Casey grabbed her gun with silencer and 12' K-Bar and slipped out of the room to find rom 1080 and her victim.

**Jackson **just got back up to the room and settled in to write down everything he just surveyed about the President, when a small, deliberate knock came at his door.

Sighing, he got up and walked slowly to the door, making sure he had a knife in his back pocket just in case.

The knock came again.

Annoyed, Jackson yelled at the door, " I'm coming! Calm down!"

Finally getting to the door, he undid the deadbolts and unlocked the door. Opening it slowly, in prep for an attack, he opened the door to see a woman. But not just any woman.

Jackson's jaw dropped, surprised and taken back.

He could only utter one word to this familiar woman outside his door.

"Lisa?"


End file.
